Berlin: Leipzig’s second win in its last six league games placed it two points ahead of Borussia Monchengladbach and Bayer Leverkusen, with the top four qualifying for the CL group stage. Cologne stunned the visitor in the seventh minute when Jhon Cordoba fired in on the rebound after Elvis Rexhbecaj first hit the post.
However, Leipzig turned things around before half-time. Centre-forward Patrik Schick grabbed his ninth goal of the campaign with a 20th-minute header. Christopher Nkunku was then sent through to calmly chip the ball over keeper Timo Horn in the 38th minute.
In a furious start to the second half, the away side added another goal when keeper Peter Gulacsi spectacularly served up a perfect 60-metre assist for striker Timo Werner to finish. “The moment I had the ball, I saw that Werner had started his run. There was a lot of space,” said Gulacsi. “It was a good ball from me, but Werner still had to score and he did that well.”
Cologne substitute AnthonyModeste’s 55th-minute missile briefly gave the host hope, but it was quickly cancelled out by Dani Olmo’s effort two minutes later.
Leipzig is now third on 58 points, two behind second-placed Borussia Dortmund and nine off leader RB Leipzig striker Timo Werner puts the ball past Cologne goalkeeper Timo Horn Bayern Munich.